This is something that I just wondered about in between games:
What if Secrets cost 0-mana to play but would cost 1-/2-/3-mana to activate for Paladin/Hunter/Mage respectively? This opened up a few arguments in my head about the pros and cons of it, but before I get to those pros and cons, I would define first play and activate.
Activate means that the specific action with the secret is met. For instance, when your opponent plays a minion during their turn turn, then Mirror Entity or Snipe would trigger. Currently it costs 0-mana to activate a secret. You only need your opponent to perform a specific action for it to trigger.
Free to play, But not activate?
So what if the secrets cost 0-mana to actually play from the hand but it costs 1-/2-/3-mana in order for it to activate? To elaborate:
A Mage on Turn 2 can play Mirror Entity and Counterspell, but even if the opponent casts a spell or plays a minion, neither of them would activate/trigger since the Mage only has 2-mana.
A Mage on Turn 3 can play Mirror Entity and Counterspell. Assuming the Mage just skips the turn with 3-mana left, either Counterspell or Mirror Entity would activate/trigger depending on which condition is met first. Upon activation, the Mage loses 3-mana.
A Paladin on Turn 6 that plays Mysterious Challenger and puts 5 secrets on board. Assuming the Paladin has no mana at this point, none of his secrets would activate/trigger.However, if the Paladin decides to use the Hero Power only on his next turn, then, he has 5-mana to activate his secrets (at 1-mana each).
A Paladin on Turn 6 that plays Mysterious Challenger that only pulls out 3 secrets can play his 2 secrets in hand for free but as with the situation above, none of the five would activate.
In essence, outside of mana alteration, it should be the same as playing it from the hand and then not using the mana (for its activation cost). And, of course, activation would remain 1/2/3 mana for Paladin/Hunter/Mage respectively.
The Pros
It adds a layer of strategy. Both for the one playing the secrets and the other player playing around secrets. A Mage can drop Mirror Entity and spend all of his/her mana so that it wouldn't activate when the opponent plays a minion. This makes it a bit more difficult to check for secrets since playing a minion does not guarantee activation. Concurrently, a Secret Paladin cannot rely on the tempo given to him by Mysterious Challenger on Turn 6 since his secrets would remain dormant if he has no mana to activate it. A Hunter can force his opponent to trigger the Freezing Trap on his opponent's 6th turn even if the Hunter played it on Turn 2. A Tempo Mage can bluff about the Secrets he plays.
It 'balances' out Mad Scientist and Mysterious Challenger. There are a handful of people who would say that Mad Scientist and Mysterious Challenger are powerful for their cost. I won't cover it here though.
It allows otherwise useless secrets (at the moment) to be played. Because it becomes harder to play around them, a Hunter can play Snipe at Turn 2 and use up his mana so that it remains a secret and then preserve his 2-mana at Turn 6/7 to Snipe out a 5-,6- or 7-drop.
The Cons
Hearthstone is simple, not complex. Basically, if it's changed to costing 1-/2-/3-mana to activate, the game becomes quite complex and Hearthstone is a game played for its simplicity. The free to play, and pay to activate will make the game more complex.
It 'imbalances' some cards. Namely Archmage Antonidas and Gadgetzan Auctioneer. With two secrets, a Mage can generate the 12-damage he needs on Turn 7 and then use it on Turn 8. Gadgetzan Auctioneer can draw as much as 6 cards when played on Turn 6.
It is a major change. This in itself is a lot to swallow. It is a very major change because not only do you change a lot of cards in one go, but you also have to change cards such as Kirin Tor Mage and Kezan Mystic to 'rebalance' them and as we know Blizzard hates changing the game in a major way. Kirin Tor Mage would probably read:
Opinions
To end, I am not complaining about Secrets or Mad Scientist or Mysterious Challenger. It's just a thought I wanted to share since I think it adds to the layer of strategy when using and dealing with secrets. Then again, I might have missed a pro- or a con- argument, which is why I wanted to hear your opinions/thoughts on it.
Paying an activation would be interesting, but would break them - you wouldn't be able to play anything in fear of not being able to activate (for example) an Ice Block to stay alive. Although, playing my demon zoo against explosive trap would be lovely xD. They are so easily played around that its almost laughable. Keep an Owl for silence or trade for a SW:D, BGH etc. You just have to know to hold those cards when you play those classes.
It would make Kezan Mystic less good since you have to pay for the secret to activate and Kirin Tor Mage worse, it is then just a normal 3 mana 4/3 minion, because you can play the secret for 0 mana anyways.
Paying an activation would be interesting, but would break them - you wouldn't be able to play anything in fear of not being able to activate (for example) an Ice Block to stay alive. Although, playing my demon zoo against explosive trap would be lovely xD. They are so easily played around that its almost laughable. Keep an Owl for silence or trade for a SW:D, BGH etc. You just have to know to hold those cards when you play those classes.
Yes, it's easily played around at the moment, which is why an activation cost can make it a bit more complex for both the the one playing it and the one playing against it. I guess it would be a problem for Freeze Mages (makes it more difficult to play the deck)...
Though it would be quite the same if a secret is played from the hand since you can simply not use the 1/2/3-mana to guarantee activation.
It would make Kezan Mystic less good since you have to pay for the secret to activate and Kirin Tor Mage worse, it is then just a normal 3 mana 4/3 minion, because you can play the secret for 0 mana anyways.
Kirin Tor Mage would probably be changed to Battlecry: The next secret to activate costs (0). Could be something semi-permanent Battlecry like Dragon Consort or it would only affect the next secret to activate during your opponent's next turn.
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This is something that I just wondered about in between games:
What if Secrets cost 0-mana to play but would cost 1-/2-/3-mana to activate for Paladin/Hunter/Mage respectively? This opened up a few arguments in my head about the pros and cons of it, but before I get to those pros and cons, I would define first play and activate.
Definition - What is play? What is activate?
To keep it simple play would mean that the card is played from the hand or from the deck (via Mad Scientist or Mysterious Challenger). Currently, when it is played from the hand, it costs 1/2/3-mana assuming no mana-changing effect is in place (i.e., Sorcerer's Apprentice, Emperor Thaurissan, Naga Sea Witch, Loatheb).
Activate means that the specific action with the secret is met. For instance, when your opponent plays a minion during their turn turn, then Mirror Entity or Snipe would trigger. Currently it costs 0-mana to activate a secret. You only need your opponent to perform a specific action for it to trigger.
Free to play, But not activate?
So what if the secrets cost 0-mana to actually play from the hand but it costs 1-/2-/3-mana in order for it to activate? To elaborate:
In essence, outside of mana alteration, it should be the same as playing it from the hand and then not using the mana (for its activation cost). And, of course, activation would remain 1/2/3 mana for Paladin/Hunter/Mage respectively.
The Pros
The Cons
Opinions
To end, I am not complaining about Secrets or Mad Scientist or Mysterious Challenger. It's just a thought I wanted to share since I think it adds to the layer of strategy when using and dealing with secrets. Then again, I might have missed a pro- or a con- argument, which is why I wanted to hear your opinions/thoughts on it.
EDIT: Included some of the discussion below.
Paying an activation would be interesting, but would break them - you wouldn't be able to play anything in fear of not being able to activate (for example) an Ice Block to stay alive. Although, playing my demon zoo against explosive trap would be lovely xD. They are so easily played around that its almost laughable. Keep an Owl for silence or trade for a SW:D, BGH etc. You just have to know to hold those cards when you play those classes.
It would make Kezan Mystic less good since you have to pay for the secret to activate and Kirin Tor Mage worse, it is then just a normal 3 mana 4/3 minion, because you can play the secret for 0 mana anyways.
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